Monday, November 20, 2017

It's finally here and I finally got to watch Justice League. It was fucking amazing. It was so fucking amazing! I almost walked into the lobby, bought a ticket and watched it again when it was done. They did all the characters justice... pun? Terrible pun. I hate puns. But seriously, it was fan-fucking-tastic. The story brought together elements from the earlier movies and did a great job meshing two huge stories together to make it work.

Like Batman Vs Superman, which took Return of the Dark Knight and the Death of Superman, and pieced them together in an intelligent fashion; Justice League takes two story lines and brings them together, War and The Return of Superman. And just like BvS, it makes total sense and is utterly brilliant story telling. Frame for frame you can essentially screen shot the movie and compare it to the comics.

I watch these DC movies from Zak Snyder and I think that they are probably the best comic to screen adaptations out there. Don't get me wrong, I love what Marvel is doing. I love it. I just happen to like DC's take more. I suppose I'm prone to the darker stories they told to set up their universe. I realize their dark tone is a cause for criticism among critics, but I don't feel critics are really worth what they used to be.

I guess that's an open point of contention. I know critics made up their mind about Justice League before they ever saw it. Part of me actually thinks that their jobs depend on criticizing the DC movies while writing puff pieces for Marvel movies. The obvious exception being Wonder Woman. Because to insult the first major female lead super hero movie rooted in female empowerment would've been writer suicide. So, she got a pass.

Wonder Woman is a great movie, not because the lead is a female or any of that small-minded garbage. It was a great movie because it was a great movie. And really, everyone made a big deal about a female lead movie, but I didn't hear anyone making those observations for Resident Evil, Tomb Raider or hell, Aliens back in the day.

It's unfortunate that critics are able to have so much sway over people. I feel like there is a major disconnect between critics and the average movie goer because every time I show someone Man of Steel or Batman Vs Superman, they love it. Like insanely love it. I've had several people tell me they couldn't believe how good they are when they had heard so many bad things about them. When I asked them who said the bad things, they can never give me a straight answer. They just heard they were bad.

BvS introduced Batman but without an origin story, and we don't need an origin story for Batman. They hint at it in Batman vs Superman, but we really don't need it. Batman is the biggest superhero of all time. We all know the story. So it was cool to come into a universe where he already existed. Actually, he's existed for a long time, and has already gone through some major story arks that fans are already familiar with. Justice League is Batman following the events of Batman vs Superman, and he's so much more optimistic.

Well, optimistic for Batman.

Justice League was a great introduction for Aquaman, Cyborg and Flash, paving the way for their solo movies. I loved Momoa's take on Aquaman. It was so good. The whole rock'n'roll rebel thing worked way better than I thought it would from the previews. I'm really looking forward to the solo Aquaman movie now. It also sets in motion several pieces for other team movies. Although Warner Brothers now is talking about doing more solo films, which I feel is a bit of a mistake because it deviates from the way that they work in the comic books. DC has always very much been about crossovers, and to have Warner Brothers take that away from them I don't think is a good decision.

Cyborg was wildly awesome. I loved how they could not have done anything that they did in that movie without him. It really set him up as a central piece to the Justice League. I also love how the flash is right at the beginning of his career, but you don't have to go to the origin story like we do what other major superhero characters in the past. Again, DC superheroes are so big, we've already had two TV shows we've seen the introduction to The Flash. There's no need to repeat his origin story. People know it.

If there any negatives about this movie, I would actually say it's suffers from Warner Brothers' interference. I've come to the conclusion at this point that the WB is DC's biggest enemy. Ever since Batman vs Superman, Warner Brothers has had wet feet about doing anything really gritty with the DC Universe. Which is super unfortunate, because I feel like the entire reason Ben Affleck signed up was because of Zack Snyder's gritty vision for the DC Universe. He wanted to tell the definitive Batman story. Now that Warner Brothers has softened its tone and backpedaled, Ben Affleck has lost interest. And I can totally understand why. Even back in the days of Daredevil, Ben Affleck was wanting to tell grittier stories. When he goes, what a loss that's going to be.

I was not a fan of Ben Affleck's going into Batman vs Superman. I was one of the detractors who was super upset by the casting. Until I saw the movie. That fight scene between Superman and Batman, and the warehouse fight scene, set the fucking bar for all Batman movies that follow. And Ben Affleck as a producer and director is amazing. He has been talking about Batman for over a decade, I know whatever ideas he had would likely be just as amazing. And now because Warner Brothers has sided with critics instead of fans, we are going to be robbed of potentially the best Batman movie ever fucking made by the best Batman that's ever been portrayed on screen.

That is a gigantic loss. Especially when you consider the success of Deadpool as a rated R superhero film, what you could do with Batman and a Rated-R setting would be so much truer to the comics than any iteration before it has ever come close to being. In fact, Batman versus Superman showed for the first time the actual story of Batman's loss of his parents amounting to nothing. Showing that it wasn't the Joker who killed him and he gets some sort of circular closure at the end of the movie. Nothing like that. It was a loss for nothing. Batman vs Superman also showed how scary it was to be on the opposite side of Batman. You saw it a little bit in Suicide Squad as well. And then obviously the opening of Justice League with Batman hunting a criminal, and the fear that he imposes on them. I feel like, had Ben Affleck been able to make his version of Batman, we would have gotten a much darker, much grittier, much more real to the comics version of Batman, and the scenes were he's hunting criminals would have been more like a horror movie, then an action movie.

It's one of those unfortunate situations where the production company has taken to Heart the comments made by critics instead of by fans. They took the fact that they weren't making Marvel money that Marvel was getting 13 movies and several TV shows into its run when they were only three or four movies into their run as an obvious sign of failure, when really they have been tracking the same as Marvel has when Marvel was in its fledgling movie period.

I know there has been a push to get a Zak Snyder cut off the film done, and I would love it to see it if it happens. I hope it happens. And this isn't to knock Joss Whedon. He's an amazing director, and he was put into an impossible situation. I think his Batgirl movie will be fantastic. But he and Snyder are very different directors with very different visions and styles; so while Justice League turned out awesome, I think Whedon showed this with Avengers, having one static, unifying vision pays its own dividends.

In the end the Justice League does what it's supposed to do I think, got me excited for all the solo songs to follow with Aquaman and Flashpoint, the next Wonder Woman movie, the next Man of Steel movie, The Batman. I'm even excited to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Batman in Flashpoint. I'm really stoked about the Lantern Corps and Shazam movies and how they play into the eventual Justice League sequel with Darkside. I can't wait for the Blu-ray release, but I want to wait and see if there's going to be an ultimate director's cut like they did with Batman v Superman, because that was absolutely superior in every way to the theatrical release. I just wish Warner Brothers would get out of DC's way and stop trying to make Marvel 2.0. I feel like Warner Brothers right now is the biggest thing holding back DC, which is really unfortunate.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Why is everyone freaking out? This was a possibility. If the stories and acting are good, that's all that should matter. Now, I do have questions. In the books, the 13th Doctor was a ginger. So this deviates from that.

I find that part unfortunate, but the show is canon and can change it as needed. As a fan of anything, you accept that part. Star Wars, Star Trek, Game of Thrones, etc... it just cones with the territory. Fans can retcon however they want.

I am worried this will kick off a 'The Doctor should represent [fill in the blank] minority in subsequent regenerations' bit of nonsense though. Doctor Who is the ultimate in flexibility for a show. They can go anywhere in space and time, the character can regenerate when he/she dies, the travel companion rotation is expected... Its basically the perfect recipe for a never ending show.

Now, they've made it even more flexible in how they cast. They can essentially cast the best actor now, regardless of anything else. That's got to be a relief for producers. They can really write to their strengths. And I hope that's how this is taken.

No agenda, now political commentary, nothing like that. Doctor Who should be above that. The goal should always be about writing great stories because it's ultimately entertainment, not using the platform as a vehicle to condescend to viewers.

That's really the only small worry I have. That people will attempt to turn the Doctor into a political lightning rod to shove ideology down people's throats, instead of just enjoying a great show.

I expect that Mrs. Whittaker and Mr. Chibnall will give us a fresh new take on the traditional Doctor Who story and a few surprises, and that's what I'm looking forward to.

Plus, lets be honest, she's hot. This will be the first Doctor I get turned on by, so that's got its own appeal.

Saturday, May 27, 2017

The Dark Universe has been announced officially. It launches with The Mummy and will be followed by The Bride of Frankenstein in (2019) and The Invisible Man (2020). Franchises are the in thing now, especially in the wake of Marvel's insane success. I love the casting that's signed on for the future Dark Universe releases, but I'm sad that there aren't any plans to include The Wolfman (2010) and Dracula Untold (2014).

The Wolfman was amazing, and they clearly left it open with the detective infected at the end, so it would be easy enough to do a simple head nod with a news paper clipping from the movie showing the werewolf attack. Dracula Untold was awesome as well, was also open ended, and losing Luke Evans as Dracula would be a total waste.

I liked Hollow Man as well because it did a really good job of incorporation the original sensibilities from The Invisible Man novel, and how power corrupts. There's nothing that directly contradicts anything else.

Neither movie faired well with critics, but I don't feel like they ever do. There weren't great advertising campaigns for them driving folks to the theaters. The vampire market was a little saturated when Dracula came out also, so I don't think the timing was right. And let's be honest, no matter how any of the Dark Universe movies turn out, critics will be unduly harsh about them because they confuse being critical and critiquing movies. You see that with Star Wars and DC movies for example. Critics hate them; fans love them.

Additionally, while Universal might believe they will make Marvel money, we're talking about monster movies. It's a niche audience compared to something accessible that children and adults can like. And not just that. Monster movies that aren't being released around Halloween when everyone is cranked up for scary flicks don't tend to do so well.

This can really only mean that Universal is trying to portray them not just as horror movies, but as summer time action flicks (The Mummy) or Valentine's Day couple flicks (Bride of Frankenstein). In doing so; while they will believe they are making them accessible, what will probably end up happening is they short-change the people who would've otherwise become their core audience.

That said, I'm still excited. I think the Dark Universe is doomed to a rough start, but as long as Universal sticks with it, I think it will pay off. They just have to be willing to take some ridicule; maybe even absorb a stumble or two at the box office, but they will zone in on their demographic and get that cult following that takes years to build. If they stick to it.

For now, until contradicted by updated canon, I'm retconning The Wolfman, Dracula Untold and the whole previous Mummy Saga and spin-offs (thanks to a clever little easter egg in the 2017 Mummy) into the Dark Universe because I think Universal is silly to set them aside.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

I'm sitting here
thinking about what could make you unhappy. So, naturally, the only
person I know is me, so I thought about what made me unhappy. A few
years ago, I was unhappy with nearly everything and felt trapped in a
life I'd built, but didn't want, and didn't know how to change any of
it. Then I got laid off. It forced me out of my unhappy life, into
a state of complete unknown. Instead of letting it paralyze me, I
decided to use it as a motivation to try and do things I'd always
wanted to do, but never been brave enough to leave my comfortable,
unhappy life to do. In doing it, I found things that seem obvious
when they are said, but people seem to forget them; or treat as
unreachable.

The first was that
one of the most wonderful things about life is learning. Not in some
formalized classroom where people who think they know better than
everybody else teach impressionable people how to think they know
better than everybody else. I mean, learning things that matter.
How did I know they mattered? Because I used them. My new life and
associated lifestyle taught me that they were useful things to know.

Don't get me wrong.
It's nice to know that there are 8 planets and 1 dwarf planet.
Scratch that, now 3 dwarf planets. Pending next discovery/change.
But, how does that help me at my job? How does that help me get
dinner? If you recognize this train of thought, it's an update on
the famous Sherlock Holmes attic. In A Study in Scarlet, Watson
discovers that Holmes doesn't know much about space and is shocked.
Holmes goes on to explain how the brain is like an attic. Fill it
with useless junk and the stuff you need becomes harder to find.

That's more or less
how the concept of the well-rounded education and the life I was
expected to live weighed me down. Having to juggle all the things I
didn't want, slowed me down and made me unhappy. It made it hard to
creatively find a way out. Because the question would always poke
out, a way out to what? Everyone thought they had the answers,
because that's what a teacher/professor/news anchor/politician had
told them. But, really, there's no one-size fits all kind of answer.
There's not even such a thing as a 'right' answer, which I think
freaks people out because through all their years of education, there
was always a 'right' answer. And when they get lost in their lives,
it depresses them because they feel like maybe they are wrong
somehow, even if they did everything the 'right way'.

Sometimes doing
things the wrong way can be the right way. (insert sexual joke here)

The thing about
learning is, it's not all history and algebra. The things that are
actually worth knowing depend on the person. And each person KNOWS
when something is worth remembering because it impacts them. It's
something they turn around and use every day. So, you could say your
lifestyle drives the things you learn. If you are unhappy, then that
means you're learning things that are either not supporting your
lifestyle or you're just in the wrong lifestyle.

When I moved into an
RV, I had spent years learning about living in tiny dwellings, road
travel, etc… but… really, I learned everything worth knowing
about it when I finally did it. There was no safety net, no fall
back plan. I just had to go for it. Living it made the learning so
much more enjoyable. Did I make mistakes? Obviously. Lots of them.
Lots and lots and lots of them. I'm still finding out things now and
smacking my head cause I hadn't discovered them earlier. But, even
the doing things wrong made me happy because it taught me to do them
right in the long run. It was fulfilling in that way, and that's how
I discovered what was right and what was actually worth KNOWing.

My choices weren't
going to be right for everybody else. Maybe not even ANYbody else.
In fact, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure almost nobody
would do things the way I do them. Like… pizza burritos. Or
pizzaritos. It's like… a lazy man's pizza, made in burrito/wrap
style. What? I didn't want to get my plate dirty. But, they worked
for me and made me happy.

I discovered a sense
of challenge and accomplishment, and that brought me happiness. So,
I was more prone to celebrate. Because I had a reason to celebrate.
And that taught me something as well. I found, before then, I had
been partying to try and find happiness. But it wasn't real, it was
hollow. Like a short term fix. And so I kept going out, and I kept
partying so I could get that fix. But I was becoming more and more
depressed when I did it.

It wasn't until I
had changed everything that I discovered why. Partying is empty
because it lacks reason. Partying is unhappy people trying to create
happiness. Celebration on the other hand, which partying imitates,
doesn't create happiness; it's a result of it. I had the cause and
effect mixed up, but hadn't known any better because everything I'd
been told my whole life until I made this discovery had told me
that's how it worked.

I didn't have to
find some ridiculous cause to fill my life with meaning anymore. All
my politics, all my philosophical arguments, my whole state of mind
changed. I felt relieved. There was nothing of benefit on those
things I thought were so important, I was just wasting time in the
only life I had thinking if I attached myself to something 'bigger
than myself' that I'd find substance and purpose. But, all I found
was anger. All those times I 'challenged' the beliefs of others, all
I was really doing when I took the bait or initiated an argument, was
being a douche.

Getting in arguments
on Facebook? Douche move. Going to protests because I think I know
better than someone else? Douche move. Instigating fights with my
friends/family that I know believe differently than me? Douche move.
I was a douche. A massive, heaping, disgusting pile of douche. I
haven't been drawn into that nonsense for 3 years, despite several
attempts by friends who are still wrapped up in that 'I know better
than you' system, and it's been great. I don't know, maybe it just
comes with age and experience. Maybe everyone in their 20s is just a
douche for decade and don't figure it out until they wake up one day
and realize how big of a condescending ass hat they've been. Or
maybe it just comes from finally finding the right path for oneself.

I knew that I was
doing the right thing for me even though everyone thought it was the
wrong thing. But, I wasn't doing it for them. I was, for the first
time in my life, doing things for me. I learned. I accomplished.
It made me feel fulfilled. I became happy from the sense of
accomplishment and fulfillment. As a result, I wanted to share my
happiness with others. I wanted to celebrate. It's infectious that
way.

People would always
tell me, if you aren't happy with what you're doing then you
shouldn't do it. But it always felt hollow because they were doing
the same thing I was and were just as unhappy. To them, the change
was as simple as changing the furniture around in the house or
changing jobs. It was cliché wisdom from some postcard they'd read
somewhere, or some movie sound bite that they thought made them sound
clever and wise.

So, what gives you a
sense of fulfillment? Why aren't you learning more about that? If
other responsibilities are getting in your way, how do you get them out
of your way so you can invest more of your time
with/on the things that bring you a feeling of accomplishment, and/or
spend more time learning about them?

I don't know about
you, but I was super cluttered. It took getting laid off to finally
shake me out of that belief that I 'had' to do this or that. I'm not
as stream lined as I'd like to be, I've allowed a lot of clutter in
the last year, but I'm saving up some cash to do a really massive
shake up in my life and get back to what I found fulfillment in.

I guess what this
rambling is saying is, don't let your dreams be dreams?

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

I rejoined a role playing group and for the first time I'm playing a class that isn't a ranger or a thief. I'm playing a Warlock. Got my creative ideas going and decided to make one of the items my characters has picked up. It's a book of evil entities. But, I didn't want to use real world evil entities from human religions/myths or even D&D evil entities. I decided to use pop-culture evil entities. I spent about a month going over source material for ideas/inspiration before I started.

Going through some my favorite bad guys, I got the idea that no one person wouldn't write a book like this. It would be multiple people over several lifetimes. Realistically, I doubt a single person would make a go of finding the most evil beings of the universe and surviving them. That meant it would likely be written in several languages. Not to mention the native languages of the evil entities themselves. Once I got the basic ideas organized, I started researching fictional languages and writing/glyphs to also use to give it a more authentic feel.

While I did that, I decided I wanted a nice, hand-made journal. I found one made in Poland on Etsy and bought it. It was nice and small. That was the one thing that did bug me in movies, books and video games about books that were used. Like, the Darkhold in Agents of Shield. Looks cool, but man, that book would get annoying to lug around. If I were putting together a book of demons and evil entities, I would want it to be easy to carry while I went from place to place doing my research. I also wouldn't want a big, gaudy monstrosity with skulls and crazy shit on it.

The first entry so far is Cthulu (Ktulu, Cthulhu). I got a collected works of H.P. Lovecraft and two different Necronomicons to use for direction. And then obviously the internet for various details.

Then I paired with English based on the Call of Cthulu and the couplet said by people to represent the common tongue of whatever realm this prop ends up getting used for (I plan to eventually run my own table-top game using this book for the players).

However, the Old Ones wouldn't be writing a book about themselves, so I found what seemed like a logical second script called Wizarding Runes and used that as the base language for the person writing it. Presumably a wizard. I kept the wizarding language based in English for the sounds and equivalent letters. It's almost a 1-for-1 translation, the exception being no punctuation and c/k being interchangeable.

Using symbols from both Necronomicons, and a few I made up myself, I spend several pages explaining things like I imagine someone trying to capture knowledge about an entity would.

From here, I'm planning to use other pop-culture references like Frankenstein's Monster, Sauron, Eidolon, Korax, D'Sparil, Diablo, Zuul, Pennywise, Darkseid, The Dead King of Atlantis, Voldemort, Loup Garou, Megitsune, La Magra, Imhotep, The Dark Presence, The King in Yellow, Cronus, Dormammu... for starters. I will likely snag more of Lovecraft's Ancient Ones. I'd like to dig into Hellboy and Ghost Rider a little bit. I have a book called the Magic Island I got to learn more about zombie mythology for a book idea about 10 years ago I plan to read through and resource concepts from. Also, obviously, the Necronomicon Ex Mortis.

This is my attempt at a timeline order for Movies, TV Shows, Netflix Shows, One-shots, Webisodes and some Optional Retcon stuff based on things referenced in the movies or TV shows that aren't necessarily contradicted anywhere from what I can tell. It's not an official part of the MCU, but with some wiggle room, anyone who just wants to make their own MCU a little bigger can include it. Because Netflix releases their shows in bulk, I'm going the additional step to order them as well based on the weather in the scenes. I will update periodically.

(1948) Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter(The One-Shot came out and inspired the TV show, but at the end of it, Howard Stark calls to say Peggy will be joining him to create S.H.I.E.L.D. They state that she has yet to be sent on a mission following the war. The wiggle room for this seems like she has yet to be sent on a mission by Captain Flynn. The captain in the TV show is Chief Dooley, who dies in Season 1. Season 2 takes place in LA. Presumably Peggy and Daniel move back to New York. Since the show was canceled before S.H.I.E.L.D. was created and the One-Shot results in it's creation, all things considered, it seems like the only place it could go.)(Aug 1986) Howard the Duck - Strange? Yeah. You can thank Guardians of the Galaxy for this one. Initially, he was just a funny Easter Egg, but after making another appearance in the second movie, he's clearly part of the universe. And while the movie is horrible, it's there.

(Aug 1998) Blade - This one has a little more substance. Kevin Fiege and Wesley Snipes themselves have given round-a-bout head nods that this will be a thing; Fiege confirming they have plans for Blade and Snipes implying positive talks with Marvel about Blade 4. (Mar 2002) Blade II

(Dec 2004) Blade Trinity (Mar 2006) Slither (James Gunn slid them into a tank in the Collector's collection. I include it for now. If its true that Nathan Fillion will be Wonderman, then I'll pull it out. )(Feb 2007) Ghost Rider - Questionable, but nothing in it directly contradicts the MCU. In fact, with the current Ghost Rider from Agents of Shield, it implies that Johnny Blaze passed the Ghost Rider to Robbie Reyes. So, while the movies are not the same caliber of the movies in the MCU, there's no continuity issues with the first one. The second has Idris Elba however, which creates a situation where he'd play two characters in a retconned MCU, so I don't include it. Additionally, the deal with the devil plays out different for no clear reason.(May 2008) Iron Man

(June 2008) The Incredible Hulk

(June 2008) Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant(May 2010) Iron Man 2

(May 2010) Marvel One-Shot: Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer

(May 2010) Thor(While released in 2011, originally had a 2010 release and the events of 'Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer' imply the events happened in closer time span than the movie release dates.)

(July 2012) The Avengers(fun fact, Agent Carter's love interest in the TV show, Daniel Sousa, is the same actor (Enver Gjokaj) as one of the two cops Cap gives orders to at one point. Fan retcon to grandson of Agent Carter?)(Sep 2012) Marvel One-Shot: Item 47